McKay Named Baseball America Freshman of the Year
June 22, 2015 | Baseball
? Baseball America Feature Story on Freshman of the Year Brendan McKay
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Louisville lefty pitcher and first baseman Brendan McKay added another impressive honor to his resume on Monday afternoon when he was named as Baseball America's College Freshman of the Year.
Selected as a national Freshman of the Year by Collegiate Baseball newspaper earlier this month, McKay had a 9-3 record with a 1.77 ERA and 117 strikeouts in 96.2 innings and 20 appearances on the mound, including 13 straight weekend starts for the Cardinals in 2015. Occupying the fourth spot in Louisville's lineup for the final 32 games of the season, McKay hit .308 with four home runs, 34 RBI, 38 walks and 32 runs scored in 58 starts as a hitter.
A native of Darlington, Pennsylvania, McKay was previously named First Team All-America by Baseball America, D1Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and was selected as a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball newspaper and the NCBWA. In addition to those honors, the 6-2, 203-pounder was chosen as the ACC Freshman of the Year, tabbed as an All-ACC First Team selection as a pitcher and was a Second Team honoree as a utility player by the conference's head coaches last month.
McKay is the first player in head coach Dan McDonnell's nine seasons in Louisville to start on the mound and play virtually every day as a position player. Twice this season he had 12 strikeouts in a single game on the mound, while at the plate, he had 15 multiple hit games highlighted by his 4-for-4 performance with a home run against North Carolina at the ACC Championship.
In its inaugural season in the ACC in 2015, Louisville set a conference record for league wins in a single season finishing with a 25-5 mark overall to win the Atlantic Division. Chosen as a national seed for the second time in school history, the No. 3 Cardinals finished 47-18 overall after falling just short of a third straight College World Series berth with an NCAA Super Regional loss at Jim Patterson Stadium.
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